Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gómez dies aged 69

Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gómez, one of Puerto Rico’s greatest boxers and a three-weight world champion, has died aged 69. His son, Wilfredo Gómez Jr., confirmed his death on Saturday night, 10 October, in a television interview. Gómez had been in hospital for around two weeks with respiratory complications. He would have turned 70 on 29 October.

Gómez leaves behind a remarkable record: 44 wins, three defeats and one draw, with 42 victories by knockout. He became a defining figure in Puerto Rican boxing through his power, his long reign at super-bantamweight and a run of performances that placed him among the sport’s most feared punchers.

A record-breaking champion

Born in San Juan, Gómez represented Puerto Rico at the 1972 Munich Olympics and won gold at the first World Amateur Boxing Championships in Havana in 1974. He turned professional later that year and won his first world title in 1977, stopping WBC super-bantamweight champion Dong Kyun Yum in the 12th round.

Gómez went on to make 17 successful defences of his super-bantamweight title, winning every one by knockout. Guinness World Records recognises the 17 defences as the most consecutive successful defences of the world super-bantamweight title. His reign included a memorable knockout of Mexican great Carlos Zárate, while his final defence came against Lupe Pintor in 1982.

He later won world titles at featherweight and super-featherweight, completing a career as a champion in three divisions. The International Boxing Hall of Fame inducted him in 1995.

Rivalries and legacy

Gómez’s first professional defeat came against another all-time great, Salvador Sánchez. Sánchez stopped him in the eighth round of their 1981 featherweight clash. Gómez returned to win another world title, but the two never met again: Sánchez died in a car accident the following year.

Gómez retired with one of boxing’s most striking records: 42 knockouts from 44 wins, including a Hall of Fame-noted streak of 32 consecutive knockout victories. His death is a major loss for Puerto Rico and for boxing, where “Bazooka” Gómez will be remembered for a fearsome run of title defences and a place among the great champions of the lighter divisions.